Siemens offers digital solutions for tank monitoring and other process variables in the upstream market. Manual tank monitoring is time consuming due to the long distances between sites and the time needed for manual measurements. Additionally, opening the hatch on the tanks presents a safety hazard to operators. Siemens remote tank monitoring solutions are fully customizable to meet your needs, including their MindSphere app designed to put real-time tank data directly in the hands of operators in the field and management in central monitoring stations. Siemens MindSphere cloud platform and industrial wireless communications technology combined with our extensive line of instrumentation improves asset management which reduces cost and improves safety.

At the core of Siemens remote tank monitoring solution is MindSphere, which serves as a central data hub for all of the tanks net- worked to the cloud platform. Within MindSphere, tank data is aggregated to produce diagnostics and build a behavioral profile and enable predictive maintenance. The data can also be processed to calculate other key measures such as volume within the cloud to meet your tank monitoring needs. With their tank monitoring app, you’ll be able to view the status, measurements, diagnostics, alerts and historical trends data from tanks across the network via a web- based platform on handheld devices and desktop computers, providing access to the data whenever and wherever you need it.

Choose the communications infrastructure to best suit your needs.

Siemens industrial wireless communications equipment is the necessary link between field instrumentation data and MindSphere. Their mobile wireless routers enable data transfer to MindSphere in remote locations and come with options for multiple cellular communications standards including LTE, UMTS, and GSM. This extended offering ensures the best signal for data transfer and the most reliable network for installations. Siemens adheres to the highest security standards in network security, and all communications solutions are encrypted with firewall protection to defend against unauthorized access and cyber threats. No matter the size of the network, their scalable and secure industrial communications technology is capable of delivering the solid foundation required for safe and efficient tank monitoring.

Maximize efficiency and return on investment with Siemens instrumentation.

Siemens' comprehensive portfolio of field instrumentation can be fitted to tanks to serve a variety of applications. Depending on the measurement accuracy, environmental conditions, and performance needed, Siemens offers a variety of instrumentation for pressure, temperature, level, and flow measurement. SITRANS LR250 is the first choice level radar transmitter for liquids in storage and process vessels. This transmitter is able to provide measurements for corrosive and aggressive materials, making it an excellent choice for crude oil measurement. Siemens wide selection of instrumentation ensures the right products are installed for optimal efficiency and return on investment.

Manual tank monitoring can be costly, time consuming and unsafe. As digitalization expands within the upstream market the need for the efficient management of resources while leveraging existing oilfield technologies is required to maintain a competitive advantage. Remote tank monitoring is a solution that enables the effective management of tank battery resources in preparation for the efficient deployment of transport for collection and maintenance.

Thursday, December 6, 2018

Proper beltscale idler alignment is critical for your beltscale to run at its best. Precise idler alignment is very important if maximum accuracy of the weighing system is to be achieved. Misaligned idlers will result in unwanted forces being applied on each idler in the weighing area, causing calibration and measurement errors.

The idlers in the weighing area must be properly aligned and leveled by shimming. This video explains how to align SIEMENS beltscale idlers in order to get the most out of your beltscale system.

Tuesday, November 20, 2018

This 209 page eBook is a comprehensive guide of ultrasonic level measurement. Courtesy of SIEMENS, this book provides the history of ultrasonic level measurement, the developments in technology over time, and the current state of best-in-class products.

Wednesday, October 31, 2018

A technological advance introduced in the late 1980’s was HART, an acronym standing for Highway Addressable Remote Transmitter. The purpose of the HART standard was to create a way for instruments to digitally communicate with one another over the same two wires used to convey a 4-20 mA analog instrument signal. In other words, HART is a hybrid communication standard, with one variable (channel) of information communicated by the analog value of a 4-20 mA DC signal, and another channel for digital communication whereby many other variables could be communicated using pulses of current to represent binary bit values of 0 and 1. Those digital current pulses are superimposed upon the analog DC current signal, such that the same two wires carry both analog and digital data simultaneously.

Looking at a standard loop-powered (2-wire) process transmitter circuit, we see the transmitter, a DC power supply (voltage source), and usually a 250 ohm resistor to create a 1 to 5 volt signal readable by any voltage-sensing indicator, controller, or recorder:

The transmitter’s primary function in this circuit is to regulate current to a value representative of the measured process variable (e.g. pressure, temperature, ﬂow, etc.) using a range of 4 to 20 mA, while the DC voltage source provides power for the transmitter to operate. Loop-powered instruments are very common in industrial instrumentation because they allow both power and (analog) data to be conveyed on the same pair of wires.

With the advent of microprocessor-based process transmitters, it became possible for instrument technicians to digitally configure parameters inside the transmitter (e.g. range values, damping values) and also query the transmitter for self-diagnostic alarms. In order to make full use of this digital functionality, though, there had to be some way to communicate digital data to and from the process transmitter over the same two wires used to convey the 4-20 mA analog signal. Otherwise, the only way to access this rich array of digital data inside the transmitter would be to connect a communicator device to some data port located on the transmitter itself, which is inconvenient due to the nature of how these transmitters are used in industry (located in dirty places, often hard to access while carrying a personal computer or other communication device).

Thus the HART communication protocol was born to address this need. HART communicates digital data along the loop conductors in the form of AC signals (audio-frequency tones) superimposed on the 4-20 mA DC current signal. A modem built into the smart transmitter translates these AC signals into binary bits, and vice-versa. Now, instrument technicians could “talk” with the new microprocessor-based transmitters simply by connecting a HART communications device at any point along the two-wire cable, even at the far end where the cable terminates at the control system hardware (panel-mounted controller, PLC, DCS, etc.).

Being able to communicate digital data over the same wire pair as the DC power and analog signal opens a whole new range of possibilities. Now, the ﬁeld-mounted transmitter can communicate self-diagnostic information, status reports, alarms, and even multiple process variables to the control system in addition to the original analog signal representing the (main) process variable. With digital communication, the only data limitation is speed (data rate), not quantity. The control system may even communicate information to the transmitter using the same digital protocol, using this digital data channel to switch between different measurement range sets, activating special features (e.g. square-root characterization, damping, etc.), automatically and remotely.

Reprinted from "Lessons In Industrial Instrumentation" by Tony R. Kuphaldt – under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License.

Saturday, October 27, 2018

United Electric Controls is a premier manufacturer of safety, alarm, and shutdown equipment, and is a a global supplier of pressure and temperature switches, transmitters, sensors, and controls for the process, discrete, semiconductor, aerospace, and defense industries.